After Righthaven filed suit against the defendants, the latter brought a motion to dismiss for lack of standing. Stephens amended the assignmentagreement conveying all ownership rights to Righthaven so that Righthaven would be the rightful owner and be able to sue infringers.

Moreover, the court rejected Righthaven's argument that it was the parties' intent to convey all rights necessary for it to have standing. It noted that the parties' intent was clear from the agreement and pointed to the fact that Stephens retained complete control over all exclusive rights. The court found that even the amended agreement gave no exclusive rights to Righthaven because it gave Righthaven only a non-exclusive right — giving Righthaven no right to exploit the copyright unless permitted by Stephens.

The Ninth Circuit affirmed the dismissals for lack of standing in both cases. However, it vacated the portion of the district court's order granting summary judgment in Hoehn on fair use because, after concluding that Righthaven lacked standing, the court lacked jurisdiction to reach the merits of Hoehn's fair use defense.